Video Lecture Notes: 2000 Election, 9/11 and the War on Terror

The 2000 election was too close to call, triggering an automatic recount.
The Republican Secretary of State insisted the recount be completed by November 14.
The Gore campaign wanted more time and petitioned the Supreme Court.
The court extended the recount deadline to November 26, but only two counties made the deadline.
One county's recount came up dry, and another finished two hours late, so its tally was not accepted.
With only two counties recounted, Bush still led by about 500 votes.
The Florida Supreme Court granted Gore's request for a recount of 70,000 questionable ballots.
Balloting methods were a problem in some counties, with votes cast using a hole punch.
If the hole wasn't properly punched, the machines wouldn't count the vote.
In Palm Beach County, 29,000 ballots were spoiled and discarded because they were improperly punched or had votes for all candidates on one ticket.
Gore won the popular vote by almost 550,000 votes but lost the electoral vote, making him the first presidential candidate in 112 years to do so.
In the 2016 election, Donald Trump also won the electoral vote while losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2,900,000 votes.

The lecture will cover who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, why they attacked the U.S., and what their motives were.
The lecture will also cover how the U.S. changed as a result of the attacks.

Al-Qaeda was responsible for the attacks.
Osama bin Laden, a wealthy millionaire from Saudi Arabia, was a key figure in Al-Qaeda.
Bin Laden's family had significant oil money.

During the Cold War, the U.S. trained Al-Qaeda to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
In the 1980s, the U.S. supported the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union, which later formed the basis of Al-Qaeda.
The U.S. has a history of providing weapons and training to groups that later become adversaries.

The Taliban, the government in Afghanistan, held religiously extreme views.
They harbored strong hatred for the U.S., partly due to perceived indecency and promiscuity in American pop culture.
A picture of a Britney Spears music video was shown as an example to highlight the perceived indecency.
The U.S. was blamed for problems around the world, a common sentiment among many countries.

Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda were particularly concerned with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
They supported Palestine and opposed Israel's existence.
The U.S. has consistently supported Israel with money, weapons, and American citizens moving there.

The Middle East, especially Jerusalem, holds holy places for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The presence of U.S. troops in these areas was considered offensive.

The U.S. declared a "War on Terror."
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan about a month after the 9/11 attacks and later invaded Iraq.
The Bush administration claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam Hussein was linked to Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks.
Casualties from the war in Iraq included 4,400 American troops and 300,000 Iraqis.

Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) was established as a prison after 9/11.
It is located in Cuba (a country with strained relations with the U.S. from the Cold War).
Most of the prisoners were Muslim men and boys perceived as enemy combatants.
780 Muslim men and boys were detained for 21 years, but only seven were convicted of any crime.
U.S. law does not apply in Guantanamo Bay, and international law is largely ignored.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created after 9/11.
The TSA budget increased significantly from 2002 to 2011.
Before 9/11, only about 5% of checked bags were searched, but after 9/11, every bag was checked.

Increased security measures and spending.
Increased fear and hate towards Muslims and Arabs (xenophobia).
The TSA was a direct result of 9/11 attacks.
The War in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Anti-Muslim sentiment greatly increased.
The Department of Homeland Security was created, which has been involved in ICE raids.

The USA Patriot Act was passed 45 days after 9/11.
It allowed the government to monitor citizens in ways that many found concerning.
The government could monitor phone calls and research other activities.
People were upset about government spying.

Edward Snowden, working for the National Security Administration (NSA), revealed unethical activities enabled by the Patriot Act.
A whistleblower exposes unethical or illegal activities within an organization.
Snowden revealed that the NSA was doing even worse things than what the Patriot Act initially seemed to allow.
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is referred to as the right to privacy.
The Patriot Act conflicted with the right to privacy.

The war on terror led to significant displacement of people, particularly in Iraq (9,200,000 people), Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Philippines, and Libya.
Most of these countries are in the Middle East and rich in oil.
The vast majority of people killed in the war on terror were not American.
The war on terror has cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $1,700,000,000,000$ . (1.7 trillion)

In 2016, approximately $6,900$ US soldiers deaths in war zones, nearly half was through hostile fire.
There was approximately $7,000$ US contractors who died as well.
It has been estimated that $91,000 to $110,000$ fighters have been killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
Civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq have been conservatively counted at $217,000$ .
This totals over $390,000$ deaths of soldiers and sparrows and only includes those who have been captured as direct deaths or deaths by bomb or bullets.
A large number of people have died in these wars indirectly - hunger, disease, or injury that resulted from the war's disruptions and environmental harm